


vacillate

by Verdantei (Zerrat)



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Ficlet, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 17:58:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4929568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerrat/pseuds/Verdantei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Weiss meets her father's newest business partner and finds herself on the backfoot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	vacillate

**Author's Note:**

> Originally prompted [here](http://zerrat.tumblr.com/post/111785225164/weisscinder-au-where-weisss-fathers-new) by lionsenpai - "AU where Weiss' father's new business parther is nothing like his others".

Weiss had always made it a priority to come to an accord with her father’s business partners through the years, and this latest venture of his was hardly an exception. 

Her own sources claimed it had something to do with vast underground resources of Dust, _maybe_ hidden beneath the wastes of Vacuo and _maybe not_. Whatever the case, Weiss would hide her own fangs and play the dutiful daughter, charming her father’s partner with wit and flattery. Only when the ink had dried on the contract would she really learn what all this fuss and bother had been about, and only then would she be able to make her own judgements on its merit. 

She arrived at her father’s offices in the SDC headquarters, just as he’d instructed, dressed in crisp whites and the family insignia hinted at in the silver at her throat and wrists and all evidence of her life as a huntress burned away. She’d played this game a dozen times before with more opponents than she gave thought to, and this would be no different. 

Arrogance, perhaps. Weiss preferred to consider it more that history spoke for itself. 

She obeyed her father’s voice bidding her to enter the office without thought, following a script that had been written in stone for as long as she could recall. She spared her father a cool smile, before dismissing him. Her attention and her goal was the partner - a woman in a charcoal pinstriped suit, her dark hair caught in a golden clasp set with firestones, seated across the large oak desk from her father. 

Even in the presence of what might as well have been Remnant royalty, the woman seemed confident and entirely at ease, reclining back in her chair and tilting her chin to look back at Weiss. 

The plan vanished from Weiss’ mind in a single, horrifying moment, her every eloquent word dying on her lips, even her father diminishing to just a quiet buzz, as she met half-lidded amber eyes. 

The woman’s lips curled up in a smile, and Weiss felt an unspeakable thrill run down her spine that reminded her, bittersweet, of her useless dreams at Beacon. 

“Well. The prodigal daughter herself. You hardly mentioned she was so…” Those eyes narrowed, hot like embers, and Weiss’ heart skipped a shameful, traitorous beat. “Beautiful.”

Weiss exhaled softly, seeking the refuge of ice and steel the name “Schnee” had always given her, and when she looked back to the business partner, she smiled. 

“My father hardly needs to draw attention to that which can speak for itself,” Weiss said, smoothly taking her place at her father’s right hand, clasping her own hands behind her back. They were trembling. _Why_ were they trembling?

The woman rose to her feet, the motion smooth as silk, and despite her misgivings, Weiss’ gaze followed her every movement, drawn. 

“True words,” the woman murmured, offering her hand to Weiss. Her gaze bored into Weiss’, hot and disarming. “Forgive my lack of manners. It’s been so long since I’ve had such… illustrious company.”

“Of course,” Weiss managed, looking away, her grasp on her own wrist tightening. She was off-balance, and shamefully so. There was a way to salvage the situation, of course. “I’m afraid I did not get your name…?”

“Cinder Fall.” The woman offered her hand to Weiss, those ember eyes intense, assessing. Her palm was hot against Weiss’ cool skin as she accepted it, the sensation enough to send tingles all the way up her arm and down her spine. 

Weiss swallowed quickly, forcing a smile. 

“I very much hope we can do business together, then.”


End file.
